1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to rolling mills producing hot rolled long products such as bars, rods and the like, and is concerned in particular with an improvement to the water boxes employed to cool such products.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Conventional water boxes typically comprise a housing containing a plurality of nozzles arranged sequentially along the path of the hot rolled product. The nozzles are subdivided into base and top sections which coact to define tubular enclosures containing replaceable sleeves. The base sections are fixed in place on a common underlying manifold, and the top sections are adjustable between closed positions and open positions allowing access to the sleeves. The nozzles are supplied via the manifold with pressurized water which serves to cool the hot rolled product.
Conventionally, the nozzle top sections are closed by so called “C clamps” that are manually set by mill personnel. This is a time consuming task requiring attention to detail to insure that the necessary high level of torque is applied to each clamp. Failure to do so can result in nozzle leakage and a loss of cooling efficiency.
The present invention addresses these problems by providing a mechanism for automatically applying a correct clamping force to the closed top sections, and in a preferred embodiment, for also simultaneously opening and closing the nozzle top sections.